Valentine Alcock Scholarship

We are a small, family-run charity.  Each year, we help a number of young people to develop their skills in playing a musical instrument by paying part or all of the costs involved in their attendance at an educational activity.

All those who work for the charity do so on a voluntary basis so that 100% of the charity’s income is disbursed in the form of financial awards to budding musicians.

Since the charity’s establishment in 2008 we have assisted more than 25 young people to take part in activities ranging from weekend workshops for members of local authority youth orchestras to residential summer schools for particular musical genres.

Our Aims

The Scholarship is registered with the Charity Commission (England & Wales), with the following aims:

• to advance the education of young people in learning to play a musical instrument through attendance and performance in practical courses, workshops, masterclasses or similar opportunities especially but not exclusively where such opportunities involve residential attendance.

• to provide financial support up to 100% of the cost of fees and transport to young people aged 14-18 years of limited financial means and up to 50% of the cost of fees and transport for a friend or relative of the young person.

Before becoming a charity with these specific aims, the Scholarship existed informally for the benefit of young musicians.  You can find out more about us here.

"Playing with the National Youth Wind Ensemble was the most challenging musical experience that I have yet had, but far from coming away frightened to audition for such high-standard orchestras again, I felt invigorated and proud to know that the NYWE's two filmed and recorded concerts were a triumph. It was brilliant to realise what a potentially far-reaching impact was possible when working with such a high quality orchestra. All of this, of course, would not have been possible without the scholarship's support, so I would like to express my heartfelt thanks."
- Sam, Hertfordshire (clarinet, NYWE residential course 2012)

How It Works

We support teenagers whose families are not well off.  They do not need to be outstanding instrumentalists already.  What is important for us is to know that the financial support we provide is likely to help a young person develop an enduring love of playing music.  You can learn more about the sorts of individual we support here.

Once a financial award is approved, we notify the organization offering the course that they will receive the sum approved, but only after the course has taken place, because we require confirmation that the young person has attended.  We do not normally make any payment direct to the young person themselves or their family, other than a contribution towards travel costs in some cases.  You can find out more about the way our financial awards work here.

The process can only begin when we receive an application, which can be filled out either by the young person her/himself or by one or both of the parents.  If you would like to complete an online application or download an application form, you can find out how to do so here.

Making Contact

We only have limited funds to help the many young people who apply to us for financial support each year.  So if we can attract additional funds, then very simply we can help more young people.

If you might be interested in making a donation to our charity, or helping in any other way, how you can do so is explained here.

If you have any other comment or query, we will try to respond quickly.  There is more information about how to contact us here.